Man United have reportedly reached a ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with Lisbon based side Benfica to sign Argentine centre-back Ezequiel Garay according to Portuguese source Record.

Sir Alex Ferguson had been strongly linked with interest in the 26 year old defender and it appears that the Old Trafford side continue to close in on the former Real Madrid man even after the Scot has been replaced by David Moyes as Man United boss.

Garay has enjoyed an excellent season on a personal level but in all likelihood will have been crushed by the multiple failures Benfica endured at the tail end of the 2012/13 season.

Benfica had been ideally placed to clinch the Primeira Liga title but saw FC Porto clinch the domestic crown on the final day of the season. Jorge Jesus’s men then lost out to Chelsea in the dying moments of the Europa League Final and to cap it all off the Portuguese giants somehow lost the Taca de Portugal final to Vitoria Guimaraes.

This source claims that half the agreed fee will go to Real Madrid, who sold Garay to the Estadio da Luz side back in July 2011.

Moyes may well feel the need to strengthen his central defensive options given Rio Ferdinand’s age and Nemanja Vidic’s well documented injury concerns. Added to the mix it’s arguably that Phil Jones is better suited to a defensive midfield role and Chris Smalling is yet to prove himself on a regular basis and is also recovering from a broken metatarsal.

Luckily it does seem that the incoming boss can at least rely on Jonny Evans, with the Northern Irishman putting in an excellent series of displays throughout the last campaign.